• 2013 – Year to empower Women of Tamil Eelam.
• Release Jaffna University students.
• Calling for Economic Boycott and Divestment.
• Palestinians congratulated. Concerns on the plight of Rohinga Muslims of Myanmar.
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) concluded its fourth Parliamentary sitting in London, endorsing several action plans.
The sitting started with an event at the British Parliament, which was attended by several British and Northern Ireland Members of Parliament.
Several of TGTE’s Cabinet Members, Senators and Members of Parliament came from around the world to attend this Fourth Sitting. Others joined through video conferencing from different countries. Entire proceedings were webcast live.
Some of the highlights:
• President of the Global Tamil Forum, Rev. Father Emmanuel, joined as a special guest and his speech was received with standing ovation.
• The TGTE’s Senate prepared a report on the roadmap to establish Tamil Eelam, which was discussed by the Parliament. The report will now be sent to the TGTE Advisory Committee and outside experts for comments and will be placed again in front of Parliament for discussion and adoption before the process of implementation starts to take shape.
Some of the Action Plans:
1) Calling for a promulgation of a Freedom Charter for Tamil Eelam incorporating the “Freedom Demands” of the Tamil-speaking people. (These “Freedom Demands” will be ascertained through Town Hall meetings, electronic and print media).
2) Calling for an Economic Boycott and Divestment Campaign.
3) Calling on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint an International Commission of Inquiry, under Article 99 of the UN Charter. According to the recent UN Internal Review Report on Sri Lanka, this step was recommended by the UN Secretary General’s own legal team in 2009.
4) Declaring 2013 as the year to Empower Women of Tamil Eelam and to take steps to achieve specific goals. TGTE considers that this will be a stepping stone to uplift the Tamil community affected by the war and will give special attention to the 90,000 Tamil war widows.
5) Calling for assistance to Hero’s families. As a first step, the “Thalir” program was launched with the aim of providing assistance to 1,000 Hero’s families by the next National Day of Mourning on May 18, 2013.
6) Condemning the attack on Jaffna University students and calling for steps to secure the release of the students who were arrested for peacefully remembering Martyr’s Day.
Two resolutions of international significance were passed:
• Congratulating the People of Palestine for being admitted by the UN as a UN non-member observer state. “On behalf of People of Tamil Eelam, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam want to salute the People of Palestine for their determination to be free despite years of untold suffering,” said the Resolution.
• Condemning the abuses and attacks on the Rohinga Muslims of Myanmar and expressing solidarity with the People of Tamil Eelam. “We understand your pain and suffering and People of Tamil Eelam stand by you, during your difficult time,” said the Resolution.
For information contact: pmo@tgte.org
